Speying

[john gregory]

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Every time I take the girls to the vet's for their ' boosters ' I get the same question ' have you thought about speying '. Can anyone tell me what are the benefits of putting a perfectly fit Whippet through the op. Each time I go the tail goes between their legs and they tremble like mad. I did have Milly booked in when I first had her but the thought of leaving her there frightened I cancelled the appointment.

 

[moonglow]

The answer to that is simple......NONE!!! :thumbsup:

Sounds like your vet is trying to make some money out of you :angry:

 

[Hula]

It's not all owners of bitches who are responsible and hence the reason rescue centres are bursting at the seams with unwanted dogs .

Many vets have the sad task of putting these poor dogs to sleep .

I suppose vets these days are trying to prevent this .

There are also health benefites to having your bitches spayed which are well researched and documented . :thumbsup:

As for you vet just trying to make money out of you well there is much more money to be made from an unspayed bitch .

 

[moonglow]

There's also plenty of "documented evidence" that shows good reasons not to spey!

 

I'm not totally against speying,but John is obviously a responsible owner who doesn't need to have his girls done!

& i don't think he would be making more money out of his girls by keeping them entire!!!

 

[Hula]

There's also plenty of "documented evidence" that shows good reasons not to spey! 

I'm not totally against speying,but John is obviously a responsible owner who doesn't need to have his girls done!

& i don't think he would be making more money out of his girls by keeping them entire!!!

I never said he would be making more money out of keeping his biches entire .

What I actually said was that vets could make more money out of bitches being entire if that is all they were interested in .

 

[FeeFee]

I wish my Sophie and Jess's previous owners had spayed them early enough that they hadn't developed mammary tumours later in life with all the stress and worry of putting older dogs through major surgery - and in Sophie's case a fair chance that her aggressive form of cancer may still spread to lungs or lymph nodes.

I know the health issues around neutering bitches aren't clear cut - you are balancing the dangers of mammary cancer and pyometra against other potential problems, there's some evidence of a slightly increased incidence of osteosarcoma in spayed bitches, for example. The problem is that there has been very limited long-term research on the dangers and benefits of spaying. Most of the studies have been on small numbers of dogs, limited breeds, no differentiation between early and late spaying etc.

My experience helping to run a rescue that takes in older dogs (7 yrs plus) is that we encounter mammary tumours in older unspayed bitches a lot more often than we encounter other health problems possibly connected to neutering in bitches spayed early in life. I can't claim it's a scientific study, but my personal choice would definitely be to spay any dog of mine after her first season.

The inconvenience of seasons and the danger of accidental pregnancy is also a factor. Obviously that's very much down to individual owners to decide for themselves what they are willing to put up with and whether they can keep their bitches 100% safe from pregnancy, but we've seen even on this forum that accidents can and do happen in in the most caring and responsible households.

 

[eve]

There are pro's and cons.

On the positive side, the girls to not have the hassle, discomfort and restriction that 2 seasons a year creates. You have less mess if your whippets live in. Less unwanted visitors hanging around your gate. Even the most biddable dog may run off if the smells a bitch in season within several miles. A determined dog can become quite agressive if you try to fend it off your bitch when she is in season. Some folks 1 mile up the hill own a real escape artist. Everytime there is a local bitch in season, he escapes, running across roads and generally being a menace to people, bitches and traffic.

Speying also reduces the risk of false pregnancy, mammary tumors later in life and ovarian cysts.

On the down side, you may not want to interfere with nature or put the girls through a big OP and also a small % of bitches develop urinary incontinence later in life.

Having had a rescue whippet that was unspeyed at 7 years develop and die from a mammary tumor, my preference is for speying. I have 3 speyed bitches at present. Sneaking out for a walk when the rest of the world has gone to bed is not my thing. There are too many dogs nearby to risk an accident.

 

[TillynPip]

If I was showing Gracie or planning to breed from her I would obviously not spay, but, in my mind after researching it and talking to more than one vet (including a friend who is a vet and has no axe to grind either way), the medical evidence for spaying bitches is sound. Gracie has just finished her second season and I hate restricting her walking (so does she), her time in our garden, fending off a fat, insistent chocolate labrador that frightened the life out of her and I dread an unplanned pregnancy with God knows what male that might have 'got' to her. She is also now in the throws of a false pregnancy which means that, if it doesn't finish of its own accord, she is going to have to have medication to sort it out.

I will be a wreck when she has her spaying op but given both scenarios,I know which one I'm opting for.

Incidentally, the sweeping generalisation about vets making money from spaying bitches is totally unfair. I would trust my vet of 25 years absolutely and, by the simple law of averages, there must be many more like him out there. Hula is absolutely right, far more money to be made from un-planned pregnant bitches and their unwanted litters.

 

[Lal]

I don't have a bitch, so this is not a decision I have to make and I don't envy those who do because nobody can relish the prospect of putting their girlie through a major operation. Let's be fair this is no 'mickey mouse' operation, it is a hysterectomy and as such carries risks. My feeling is that we all know our own dogs and circumstances best and, with expert advice, can make an informed decision. The problem lies with some vets, as the OP stated, who advocate a blanket 'spay and neuter' campaign, sometimes from the moment of the very first vaccinations. I have no doubt that some are acting with the best possible intentions given the unwanted and stray dog problem that we all know exists, but I do feel that it is unfair to pressurize people into making a decision without looking into the pros and cons first.

Incidentally, I was pressurized into giving my child a vaccine which ultimately, given his previous ill health as a neonate, I feel has contributed to his Aspergers Syndrome, Tourettes etc. I know that has nothing to do with spaying bitches but shows how easy it is to succumb to pressure from the professionals.

 

[TTT]

I keep a speyed bitch. The operation was done at about one year of age. I had no intention of ever breeding. She has always been extremely healthy. A great plus for me is that we do agility, therefore neither our training or competition schedule is upset.

 

[FeeFee]

I don't have a bitch, so this is not a decision I have to make and I don't envy those who do because nobody can relish the prospect of putting their girlie through a major operation. Let's be fair this is no 'mickey mouse' operation, it is a hysterectomy and as such carries risks.

I agree that no operation involving a GA is trivial and it is always a worry, but luckily dogs' anatomy makes spaying a much simpler operation than a human hysterectomy and doesn't have the same sort of long recovery period. Even the older rescues we spay are usually up and fine within a couple of days and are fully fit and able to do everything as normal once their stitches come out.

 

[kirislin]

Many pet owners in Australia have their dogs and bitches neutered. You get charged more to register your dog if it's entire, unless you are also registered with the canine council. Sadly our pounds are still bursting at the seams and many thousands of unwanted dogs (and cats) are destroyed every year so I dont know what the answer is to unwanted pets.

 

[caitlin]

I wish more people with dogs would have them castrated! They seem to think it is the bitch owner's responsibility always to deal with the 'contraception'! I had my bitch spayed and I think it has led to incontinence - although it is a major operation it seems to be one that young vets/not yet qualified vets will practise on. In spite of this, you will have to pay a proper vets fee for this 'practise'. This is certainly what happened when my bitch had her op, although I only found this out later (I thought we were getting the experienced vet who runs the practice). When Ivy had a season, apart from keeping her on the lead, I noticed no particular difference and I sometimes think I wouldn't have put her through it if I had my time again, as the incontinence is definitely a problem!!

 

[whippetwise]

My first whippet came to me entire, three days after she arrived she came into season, then after that had a false pregnancy, then when I did bring her down to get spayed they discovered her womb was infected. She had the start of pyometra and if I had not spayed her when I did, she may have not made it. So glad I got her done.

 

[dawn]

It's not all owners of bitches who are responsible and hence the reason rescue centres are bursting at the seams with unwanted dogs .Many vets have the sad task of putting these poor dogs to sleep .

I suppose vets these days are trying to prevent this .

There are also health benefites to having your bitches spayed which are well researched and documented . :thumbsup:

As for you vet just trying to make money out of you well there is much more money to be made from an unspayed bitch .

How can a vet make MUCH MORE money out of an unspeyed bitch - actually how do they make any money from an unspeyed bitch which they wouldn't make if the bitch was speyed???

 

[wild whippies]

Cancer in dogs is common. I personally see castration and speying as a ''cancer preventative'' dubious as it can be a matter of robbing Peter to pay Paul.

I think it comes down to practicality and lifestyle. If your bitch comes in season every 6 months and the whole household suffers distress and anxiety or your bitch is being plagued with phantoms then you could argue that the risk of an operation is justfied. If it's a mild inconvenience and your bitch can be kept safe then I wouldn't bother.

 

[Lal]

I personally find the whole thing dubious - if you 'google' spaying bitches then you will find vets saying it is ok from the age of 8 weeks old!!! How can that ever be in the best interests of the dog concerned?

 

[Lal]

PS If they advocated castrating men at the same age (not dogs I might add!) then I may be in favour lol!!!

 

[Seraphina]

Spayed bitch is lot less likely to to get pyometra, but as there is always little bit of the uterus left, it is NOT impossible to get there infection. Estrogen sensitive mammary cancer is less likely to occur in spayed bitch, and the incidence is reduced even further if the bitch is done before puberty, however, again it is not impossibility for early spayed bitch to get mammary tumors.

Incontinence can occur in entire old bitch, it may occur lot earlier in spayed bitch, and sometimes it can occur immediately after spaying in a young bitch.

This article does explain most of the pros & cons

Visit Website

 

[Hula]

It's not all owners of bitches who are responsible and hence the reason rescue centres are bursting at the seams with unwanted dogs .Many vets have the sad task of putting these poor dogs to sleep .

I suppose vets these days are trying to prevent this .

There are also health benefites to having your bitches spayed which are well researched and documented . :thumbsup:

As for you vet just trying to make money out of you well there is much more money to be made from an unspayed bitch .

How can a vet make MUCH MORE money out of an unspeyed bitch - actually how do they make any money from an unspeyed bitch which they wouldn't make if the bitch was speyed???

False pregnancys

Unplanned mating of bitch

Pregnancy , complications , C-section , problems with puppies , removal of dew claws

Pyometra

Mammary tumours